Point switch

ABSTRACT

A point switching device ( 4 ) that is disposed at a diverging point on tracks ( 3 ) on which a moving body ( 1 ) travels is provided. This point switching device includes: a point ( 8 ) that rotates around a support point ( 20 ) on one end, and can move between a first position (P 1 ) and a second position (P 2 ); a first coil ( 33   a ) that generates an induction field to drive the point to the first position; a second coil ( 33   b ) that generates an induction field to drive the point to the second position; and an excitation control unit ( 40 ) that selectively supplies an intermittent exciting current to the first coil or the second coil.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a point switching device that iselectrically controlled.

BACKGROUND ART

In connection with toys that are moved on rails, such as train modelsthat run on rails, point switching devices that are electricallycontrolled through the operations by users are already widely known asthe means of switching points at the diverging point on rails.

However, when one of diverging tracks is made travelable by a point, aconventional point switching device needs to switch the point so as toallow a movable body that is coming in the opposite direction from theother diverging track to pass through the diverging point. If theswitching operation is not performed, the running of the movable body isblocked by the point, and the movement of the movable body might beinterrupted, or the movable body might be derailed.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a pointswitching device that does not require a point switching operation toallow a movable body coming from the opposite direction on anon-selected track of diverging tracks to pass through the divergingpoint.

The above described problems are eliminated by a point switching devicethat is provided at a diverging point on tracks on which a movable bodytravels. This point switching device includes: a point that can movebetween a first position and a second position by rotating around asupport point on one end thereof; a first coil that generates aninduction field to drive the point to the first position; a second coilthat generates an induction field to drive the point to the secondposition; and an excitation control unit that selectively supplies anintermittent exciting current to the first coil or the second coil.

According to the present invention, when an exciting current is appliedto the first coil, for example, the first coil generates an inductionfield to move the point to the first position. The exciting current isnot constantly supplied to the first coil, but is intermittentlysupplied to the first coil. Accordingly, an induction field is onlyintermittently generated. When the induction field is generated, thepoint is guided toward the first position. However, when the inductionfield is not generated, the position of the point is not maintained inthe first position. Even if the traveling of the movable body is blockedby the point, the point is pushed by the movable body still headingforward, and is moved to the second position. While the point is locatedin the second position, the movable body can pass through the divergingpoint. After the movable body passes through the diverging point, thepoint moved to the second position is driven back to the first positionwhen an induction field is generated again. Thus, the point switchingoperation for the movable body coming from the direction blocked by thepoint is unnecessary.

Furthermore, the intermittent electricity supply can save electricityconsumption.

The point switching device may further include an electricity supplyunit that has a battery as the source of electricity to be supplied tothe first coil and the second coil. Thus, the point switching device hasa different power source from that of the tracks, and can be used evenif the tracks do not require a power source.

The point switching device may further include a point position displayunit that displays on the tracks whether the point is located in thefirst position or the second position. Thus, the travel able directionof the movable body at the diverging point is clearly indicated, so thatthe running direction of the movable body can be recognized at a glance.Thus, the entire operation to allow the movable body to travel can besimplified.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is an enlarged view of the diverging rails;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the point, taken along the line J-Kof FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 shows the bottom side of the diverging rails;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the diverging rails, takenalong the line L-M of FIG. 3, with the bottom side of the divergingrails facing upward;

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the point switching device;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the received data processing to be performed bythe control unit of the point switching device;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the point switching operation to be performedby the control unit of the point switching device;

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the state of the coils and thesate of the point;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a situation in which the point movesin such a manner as to make one path travelable through a pointswitching operation by a user;

FIG. 10A is a schematic view showing a situation in which the trainmodel runs into the point from the opposite direction of a path that isdifferent from the travelable path; and

FIG. 10B is a schematic view showing a situation in which the trainmodel can pass through the diverging point.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows an example of embodiment of the present invention. A trainmodel 1 is remotely controlled with drive information contained in acontrol signal transmitted from a controller 2. The train model 1 runson rails 3 as tracks, and a point switching device 4 is provided at adiverging point on the rails 3. The point switching operation of thepoint switching device 4 is also remotely controlled with the driveinformation contained in the control signal transmitted from thecontroller 2. The controller 2 is capable of controlling the running ofeach of train models 1 . . . 1, and also is capable of controlling thepoint switching operation of each of point switching devices 4 . . . 4.The means of remote control may be of a cable type or a wireless type.In this embodiment, infrared rays are used as the means of remotecontrol, and the train models 1 . . . 1 are identified with ID codesthat are unique to each train model 1. The point switching devices 4 . .. 4 are identified with point numbers that are unique to each switchingdevice 4.

The train model 1 includes a chassis 70 and a compartment body 71 thatcovers the upper portion of the chassis 70 as a unit to move the train.A pair of side-to-side front wheels 72 and a pair of side-to-side rearwheels 73 are rotatably attached to the chassis 70 via an axle 72 a andan axle 73 a, respectively. The front wheels 72 or the rear wheels 73are rotated by a drive motor provided in the train model 1, so that thetrain model 1 can travel.

The point switching device 4 includes diverging rails 6, a control box7, and a battery placement unit 19. The diverging rails 6 diverge sothat the train model 1 coming from the direction C can travel in thedirection A or the direction B. Hereinafter, the path that extends fromthe direction C to the direction A will be referred to as the path X,and the path that extends from the direction C to the direction B willbe referred to as the path Y. The diverging rails 6 include a point 8,LED lamp display units 9 a and 9 b each of which serves as a pointlocation display unit for each of the directions A and B, and trackpieces 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c that guide the train model 1 toward thedirections A, B, and C, respectively. Further, rail connecting units 11a, 11 b, and 11 c for connecting the rails 3 to each of the directionsA, B, and C are provided at the ends of the diverging rails 6.Hereinafter, the LED display units 9 a and 9 b, and the track pieces 10a, 10 b, and 10 c will be referred to simply as the LED display unit 9and the track piece 10, unless a specific distinction is necessary.

The track piece 10 is located in the middle of a running unit 76, andhave is elevated to be belt-like shaped. The train model 1 travels onthe track piece 10 so that the side-to-side wheels 72 and 73 sandwichthe track piece 10. As the inner side surfaces of the front wheels 72and the rear wheels 73 of the train model 1 travels in contact with theouter side surfaces of the track pieces 10, the train model 1 travels ina direction guided by the track piece 10. For instance, the train model1 traveling from the direction C to the direction A runs from the trackpiece 10 c to the track piece 10 a via the point 8. The train model 1traveling from the direction C to the direction B runs from the trackpiece 10 c to the track piece 10 c via the point 8. Each of the trackpieces 10 continues to a track piece (not shown) provided on the railsto which the diverging rails 6 are connected.

A remote-control signal light receiver 15 that receives the controlsignal from the controller 2, an initial setting switch 16 for settingthe initial position of the point 8, and a point number setting switch17 for setting the point number of the point switching device 4 areprovided on the surface of the control box 7. The battery placement unit19 houses a battery (batteries) to serve as an electricity supply unitfor the point switching device 4.

Each of the LED lamp display units 9 has an LED lamp, and turns on theLED lamp corresponding to the travelable path in conjunction with themovement of point 8. For example, FIG. 1 shows a situation in which thepath X is a travelable path. In this situation, the LED lamp of the LEDlamp display unit 9 a is turned on, and the LED lamp of the LED lampdisplay unit 9 b is turned off. Although the LED lamp display units 9may be in any color and may take any shape, it is preferable that eachof the LED lamp display units 9 is in a high-visibility color and has ahigh-visibility shape.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the configuration of the point 8 isdescribed. FIG. 2A is an enlarged view of the upper side of thediverging rails 6. FIG. 2Bis a cross-sectional view of the point 8 ofthe diverging rails 6, taken along the line J-K of FIG. 2A.

The point 8 is long and thin shaped, and one end of the point 8 isattached to the diverging rails 6 via a shaft 20. A movable portion 21that is the other end of the point 8 can move between a first positionP1 and a second position P2, with the shaft 20 serving as the point ofsupport. The point 8 further has a protrusion 22 provided at the lowerside of the movable portion 21, as shown in FIG. 2B. The protrusion 22protrudes through the bottom side of the diverging rails 6. Therefore, agroove 23 is formed between the positions P1 and P2, so that theprotrusion 22 can move between the positions P1 and P2 but cannot movebeyond the positions P1 and P2.

The relationship between the positions of the point 8 and the paths isnow described. When the movable portion 21 is located at the firstposition P1, the point 8 becomes parallel to the path X, and functionsas a track piece that connects the track piece 10 c to the track piece10 a. Accordingly, when the movable portion 21 is located at the firstposition P1, the train model 1 coming from the direction C travels alongthe path X. Meanwhile, the second position P2 is located on the rightside of the traveling direction of the train model 1 coming from thedirection C. Therefore, when the movable portion 21 is at the secondposition P2, the right-side front wheel 72 (in the traveling direction)of the train model 1 coming from the direction C runs into a rim of thepoint 8 after the train model 1 travels past the track piece 10 c. Therim into which the right-side front wheel 72 runs is referred to as theP1-side rim 8 a, and the rim on the other side is referred to as theP2-side rim 8 b. Since the point 8 does not move beyond the secondposition P2, the train model 1 travels along the P1-side rim 8 a, and isthen guided from the track piece 10 c to the track piece 10 b.Accordingly, when the movable portion 21 is located at the secondposition P2, the train model 1 travels along the path Y.

When the movable portion 21 is at the first position P1, the left-sidefront wheel 72 (in the traveling direction) of the train model 1traveling in the reverse direction of the path Y runs into the P1-siderim 8 a of the point 8. Therefore, the train model 1 cannot travelfurther ahead, unless the movable portion 21 switches to the secondposition P2. When the movable portion 21 is at the second position P2,the left-side front wheel 72 (in the traveling direction) of the trainmodel 1 traveling in the reverse direction of the path X runs into theP2-side rim 8 b of the point 8. Therefore, the train model 1 cannottravel further ahead, unless the movable portion 21 switches to thefirst position P1.

Hereinafter, the situation in which the movable portion 21 is at thefirst position P1 will be sometimes referred to as “the situation inwhich the point 8 is at the first position P1” or “the situation inwhich the protrusion 22 is at the first position P1”. The same appliedto the second position P2. Also, the situation in which the movableportion 21 moves between the first position P1 and the second positionP2 might be referred to as “the point 8 is switched”.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the configuration for moving the movableportion 21 between the first position P1 and the second position P2 isdescribed. FIG. 3 shows the bottom side of the diverging rails 6. FIG. 4is a cross-sectional view of the diverging rails 6, taken along the lineL-M of FIG. 3. In FIG. 4, the upper side of the diverging rails 6 facesdownward. The line L-M is perpendicular to the path X. Hereinafter, thedirection perpendicular to the path X will be referred to as the L-Mdirection(s).

As shown in FIG. 3, a base plate 30 into which an IC is incorporated, amovable plate 31, and a coil placement unit 32 are disposed on thebottom surface of the diverging rails 6. As shown in FIG. 4, the coilplacement unit 32 is provided as a concave portion on the bottom side ofthe diverging rails 6. In the coil placement unit 32, a coil 33 a as afirst coil and a coil 33 b as a second coil are placed in parallel inthe L-M direction, and are arranged at a distance from each other.Hereinafter, the coil 33 a and the coil 33 b will be referred to as thecoils 33, unless there is a need to specifically distinguish between thetwo coils. With the bottom surface 32 a of the coil placement unit 32facing down, the movable plate 31 is provided to cover the coilplacement unit 32. The movable plate 31 has a protrusive sensor 34 thatis located at the concave portion formed between the coil 33 a and thecoil 33 b. The sensor 34 has a ferromagnetic body thatcharacteristically sticks to a magnet. When an exciting current isapplied to one of the coils 33, the sensor 34 is attracted to the coil33 that has generated an induction field and become an electromagnet,and the movable plate 31 is also moved in the same direction. As thesensor 34 moves between the coil 33 a and the coil 33 b in the L-Mdirections, the movable plate 31 moves in the L-M directions.

The movable plate 31 has a hole 35 in which the protrusion 22 of thepoint 8 can run. As the movable plate 31 moves in the L-M directions,the protrusion 22 moves with the hole 35, and the movable portion 21moves accordingly.

FIG. 4 shows the situation in which an exciting current is applied tothe coil 33 a to become an electromagnet, and the sensor 34 is attractedto the coil 33 a. In this situation, the protrusion 22 is located at thefirst position P1. When an exciting current is applied to the coil 33 b,the coil 33 b becomes an electromagnet, and the sensor 34 is attractedto the coil 33 b. As the sensor 34 moves in the L direction, the movableplate 31 also moves in the L direction, and the protrusion 22 moves withthe hole 35. When the sensor 34 sticks to the coil 33 b, the protrusion22 is located at the second position P2. The sensor 34 moves between thecoil 33 a and the coil 33 b, the position of the point 8 is switchedbetween the first position P1 and the second position P2.

Although the movable plate 31 moves in the L-M directions, theprotrusion 22 moves along the arc of the circular that has a radiusequivalent to the length between the shaft 20 and the protrusion 22,with the shaft 20 being the center. When the movable plate 31 moves inthe L direction, the protrusion 22 does not move in a direction parallelto the L direction, but slightly inclines toward the shaft 20.Therefore, the hole 35 should be designed to have such a size as toallow the protrusion 22 to move with the movable plate 31. The hole 35of this embodiment is formed as a groove-like hole extending in parallelwith the path X. Further, guide protrusions 36 a and 36 b for guidingthe movable plate 31 in the L-M directions are provided on the bottomside of the diverging rails 6, and guide holes 37 a and 37 b in whichthe guide protrusions 36 a and 36 b run respectively are formed in themovable plate 31. The guide holes 37 a and 37 b of this embodiment aregrooves that extend in parallel with the L-M directions.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the point switching device 4.The point switching device 4 includes a control unit 40 as an excitationcontrol unit that controls the switching of the point 8 according to auser instruction, as well as the above described remote-control signalreceiver 15, the initial setting switch 16, and the point number settingswitch 17. The control unit 40 is formed as a computer that includes aCPU and various peripheral circuits such as a RAM and a ROM that arenecessary for the operation of the CPU. In the following, the functionof each component of the point switching device 4 is described.

When a user sets a point number with the point number setting switch 17,a point number memory unit 42 stores the point number as its own pointnumber. The initial setting switch 16 is a switch for a user to set theinitial position of the point 8 to the first position P1 or the secondposition P2. As the initial position is set by a user, the position isstored in a point position memory unit 43. The point position memoryunit 43 stores the current position of the point 8, as well as theinitial position.

When receiving the control signal from the controller 2, theremote-control signal receiver 15 sends the control signal to a receiveddata determining unit 45. The received data determining unit 45determines whether the control signal indicates a point switchinginstruction that is directed to itself. Whether or not the controlsignal is determined to be the data to instruct itself to perform pointswitching depends on whether or not the control signal contains a codefor a point switching instruction. Whether or not the control signal isdetermined to be directed to itself depends on whether or not thecontrol signal contains the point number that is set with the pointnumber setting switch 17. When the received data determining unit 45determines that the control signal is a signal for instructing itself toperform point switching, a signal for a point switching instruction issent to a switch control unit 46. Upon receipt of the point switchinginstructing signal, the switch control unit 46 refers to the currentposition of the point 8 stored in the point position memory unit 43, anddetermines the position P1, P2 to which the movable portion 21 should bemoved. The switch control unit 46 then transmits an instruction signalto a drive circuit 47 to intermittently supply an exciting current tothe coil 33 corresponding to the determined position. According to theinstruction transmitted from the switch control unit 46, the drivecircuit 47 intermittently supplies an exciting current to the designatedcoil 33.

An LED drive circuit 48 refers to the position P1 or P2 of the point 8stored in the point position memory unit 43, and determines a travelablepath. The LED drive circuit 48 then turns on the LED lamp of the LEDdisplay unit 9 corresponding to the determined path, and turns off theLED lamp of the LED display unit 9 irrelevant to the determined path.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, the operation flow for the pointswitching to be performed by the control unit 40 is described.

First, whether received data contains a code for point switching isdetermined (step S50). If the received data contains such a code, thereceived data is determined to be point switching data, and continuouslywhether the received data contains the point number of itself isdetermined (step S51). If the received data contains the point number,the received data is determined to instruct itself to perform pointswitching, and the operation moves on to the point switching operation(step S52). If the received data does not contain the point number ofthe device, it is put into a standby state to wait for a remote-controlsignal.

In the point switching operation, the position to which the point 8 isto be switched is first specified in step S60, and the coil 33corresponding to the specified position is selected. An instruction tostart an exciting current supply to the selected coil 33 is then issued(step S61). When the exciting current supply starts, timer counting alsostarts (step S62). The timer is counted until the preset timer runs out(step S63). When the preset timer is determined to have run out, aninstruction to interrupt the exciting current supply is issued (stepS64). Then, the timer counting starts (step S65), and is continued untilthe preset timer runs out (step S66). When the preset timer isdetermined to have run out, the operation returns to step S61 to startsupplying the exciting current again. The procedures up to step S66 arethen repeated.

As a result of the above procedures, an exciting current isintermittently supplied to the coil 33 selected in step S60. In theabove described operation, the control unit 40 performs in atime-sharing multitasking mode. Although the procedures of steps S61 toS66 for intermittently supplying an exciting current are repeated, whena next point switching signal for itself is received, the pointswitching operation according to the received instruction is started asan interrupt operation. Also, the exciting current is intermittentlysupplied through the timer counting operation by the control unit 40 inthe above described operation. However, the intermittent timing may bestored beforehand in the drive circuit 47. In such a case, the controlunit 40 selects the coil 33 to which the exciting current is to besupplied, and simply issues an instruction to supply the excitingcurrent to the selected coil 33, so that the drive circuit 47 suppliesthe exciting current to the selected coil 33 in the predeterminedtiming.

Referring now to FIGS. 8, 9, 10A, and 10B, the state of the point 8affected by intermittently supplying the exciting current to the coil 33is described. FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the state of thecoil 33 to which the exciting current is supplied and the position ofthe point 8. FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing the position of thepoint 8 that is switched through a point switching operation by a user.FIGS. 10A and 10B are schematic views showing movement of the point 8.

A case where the point 8 is located in the second position P2 as shownin FIG. 9 is now described. Here, an exciting current is intermittentlysupplied to the coil 33 b corresponding to the second position P2, asdescribed above. Accordingly, the coil 33 b repeatedly switches betweenan electromagnetic state T1 and a non-electromagnetic state T2, as shownin FIG. 8.

A case where the train model 1 runs in the reverse direction of the pathX in the above state is now described. A trail 75 a shown in FIG. 10A isthe trail that is drawn by the left-side front wheel 72 in the travelingdirection of the train model 1, and a trail 75 b is the trail that isdrawn by the right-side front wheel 72 in the traveling direction of thetrain model 1. As shown in FIG. 10A, the left-side front wheel 72 in thetraveling direction runs into the rim 8 b on P2-side of the point 8. Asshown in FIG. 8, if the timing W1 falls in the state T2 in which thecoil 33 b is not an electromagnet, the position of the point 8 is notmaintained. Accordingly, the point 8 is pushed in the travelingdirection of the train model 1, and moved to the first position P1.Thus, the train model 1 can travel in the reverse direction of the pathX. FIG. 10B shows such a situation. In this situation, an excitingcurrent is intermittently supplied to the coil 33 b even during a timeT3 in which the train model 1 is passing through the point 8 in thereverse direction of the path X. Accordingly, the timing W2 in which thecoil 33 b again becomes an electromagnet falls in the time T3. In such acase, however, the point 8 is interrupted by the left-side wheels 72 and73 in the traveling direction of the train model 1, so that the point 8cannot return to the second position P2. After the train model 1 passesthrough the point 8, the point 8 returns to the second position P2 inthe timing W3 in which the coil 33 b again becomes an electromagnet.

When the point 8 is switched so as to travel along the path Y, it is notnecessary for a user to switch the point 8 so as to allow the trainmodel 1 to pass through the point 8 in the reverse direction of the pathX. The same applied to the case where the point 8 is located in thefirst position P1, that is, the path X is travelable according to apoint switching instruction from a user.

If the coil 33 is in the electromagnetic state T1 when the front wheels72 of the train model 1 traveling in the reverse direction of the path Xrun into the point 8, the train model 1 is stopped until the coil 33 isput into the non-electromagnetic state T2, and the point 8 is then movedso as to let the train model 1 pass. To shorten the stopping time, it ispreferable to make the duration of the electromagnetic state T1 verymuch shorter than the duration of the non-electromagnetic state T2.Alternatively, the force for maintaining the position of the point 8,namely, the suction force of the electromagnetic coil 33, may be madesmaller than the force of the train model 1 pushing the point 8.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, andvarious modifications may be made to it. For example, although thesuction force of a magnetic body is utilized in the above embodiment, itis possible to utilize repulsive force.

Also, a movable body 1 is not necessarily the train model 1, but anyother type of movable body that can travel on tracks, such as a vehiclemodel, may be employed. Such a movable body does not need to have thewheels 72 and 73, and may only have a contact portion that is to be incontact with the track pieces 10 and the point 8. Further, the drivingmethod for the movable body 1 is not limited to a motor, as long as itcan be controlled by the controller 2.

Although the battery placement unit 19 is provided in the pointswitching device 4 in the above embodiment, it is not necessary toemploy the battery placement unit 19 if a current is supplied to thetracks 3. Also, the exciting current to be supplied to the selected coil33 is not necessarily a direct current, but may be an alternatingcurrent.

It is also possible to set the point number and the initial position ofthe point 8 according to an instruction from the controller 8.

As described so far, the present invention can provide a point switchingdevice that does not require a point switching operation to allow amovable body traveling in the reverse direction of a non-selected pathof the diverging paths to pass through the point.

1. A point switching device that is provided at a diverging point ontracks on which a movable body travels, comprising: a point adapted tomove between a first position and a second position by rotating about asupport point on one end thereof; a first coil for generating aninduction field to drive the point to the first position; a second coilfor generating an induction field to drive the point to the secondposition; and an excitation control unit for selectively supplying anintermittent exciting current to the first coil or the second coil. 2.The point switching device according to claim 1, further comprising: anelectricity supply unit, having a battery as a source of electricity,for supplying electricity to the first coil and the second coil.
 3. Thepoint switching device according to claim 1, further comprising. a pointposition display unit for displaying on the tracks whether the point islocated in the first position or the second position.